


silence is golden (and you've got my hopes up)

by beta_babelfish



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soulmate Tattoos, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, main pairing - kihyuk, side pairing - hyungwonho, this idea grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't let go till i wrote it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-29 22:05:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16752325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beta_babelfish/pseuds/beta_babelfish
Summary: The soulmate tattoo thing is all well and good - the first words your soulmate will speak to you are etched on your arm from birth, and it made finding true love easier, supposedly.It gets a little bit difficult when the tattoo says, in inky black letters, “shut the fuck up.” It gets even more difficult when your name happens to be Lee Minhyuk.





	silence is golden (and you've got my hopes up)

**Author's Note:**

> Should I be working on my other fics? Yes. Did that stop me? Absolutely not.
> 
> Title is from the song "Talk Too Much" by Coin - the quintessential Kihyuk song, if you ask me.
> 
> Enjoy!

Minhyuk’s first memory involving his soulmate tattoo is from when he was at the tender age of four, just learning how to read, and toddling up to his mother to ask her what “fuck” meant.

She’d given him a pained smile - she knew exactly why he was asking, of course - and knelt down, gathered him up in a hug, and told him, “It’s not a very nice word, Minhyukkie. Please don’t use it until you’re older, okay?”

Minhyuk had frowned. “But why would my soulmate say it to me if it’s not very nice?”

His mom had just sighed. “That’s a good question, isn’t it?”

* * *

 

Minhyuk was twelve years old when someone first told him to shut the fuck up.

He knew what “fuck” meant by now - he was a rowdy middle schooler, how could he not? He’d also gotten far, far too invested in romance movies, but that was beside the point.

The point was, he was a young middle schooler, high on the idea of love and a little bit too energetic for his own good.

And he was at the train station, talking and laughing with Jooheon, his bestest friend in the world (although shouting and shrieking might be a better way of putting it) when a middle-aged man turned to the two of them and said, “Kids, for the love of God, shut the fuck up.”

Minhyuk had frozen - whatever words he was going to say next died in his throat as he stared at the man with wide eyes. _There’s no way_ , he’d thought, _There’s no way it’s this old man. He looks like he could be my dad. Is that possible? Is it legal?_

The man had turned away and gone back to his phone, oblivious to the internal chaos he had just unleashed. Jooheon turned to Minhyuk with wide eyes.

“Is it him?” Jooheon whispered. “Oh my god, your tattoo, he said the thing, _he said the thing -_ ”

“Shut _up_ ,” Minhyuk whispered back, panic bubbling in his stomach. “I don’t know, Jooheon, is this allowed? Can it be an old man? I don’t know what to _do_ -”

They whispered back and forth up until the train arrived, sneaking un-subtle glances at the older man the entire time. He sat there, oblivious, and when they got on the subway they not-so-sneakily chose the seats right across from him, whispering and Minhyuk trying desperately not to panic.

“It can’t be him,” Minhyuk whispered furiously, eyeing the man across the aisle (the man had definitely noticed their whispers and stares, and had decided to handle it by shooting them glares that had Minhyuk and Jooheon squeaking and turning away, whispering even more furiously). “He could be my _dad_ , I don’t think twelve-year olds are allowed to marry dads-”

“It’s your _soulmate_ tattoo, he said the _thing,_ that means he _has to be_ -”

“ _No it doesn’t Jooheon I can’t do this I don’t want to marry a old man-_ ”

The old woman sitting next to Minhyuk, at this point, had had enough of their panicked whispering and elbowed Minhyuk sharply in the ribs. Minhyuk yelped, nearly jumping out of the seat, and the old woman fixed him with a glare and hissed, under her breath, “ _shut the fuck up or I’ll kick both your asses._ ”

The two of them remained silent for the rest of the ride, Minhyuk’s thoughts swirling at a hundred miles an hour. One thing for certain, though - there was no way the grandma on the train was his soulmate, and that meant that the guy on the platform probably wasn’t his soulmate, either.

He didn’t quite know how to feel about that - that people could say the words on his arm and _not_ be his soulmate. It makes sense, in a way - he knew at least three people with the word “hello” printed on their arms, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

That didn’t stop the small seed of worry that’s planted in his heart, though.

* * *

 

The third time a stranger tells him to shut the fuck up, Minhyuk asks, “Are you my soulmate?”

The look the guy gives him is one of incredulous disbelief - he’s got to be around seventeen or eighteen, and looks tall and imposing to the fresh-out-of-middle-school Minhyuk. “Are you joking right now?”  
In response, Minhyuk wordlessly rolls up his sleeve and presents the words on his forearm to the boy in front of him. The words, in black ink, reading, simply - _shut the fuck up._

The boy stared at Minhyuk’s arm for a moment, then shook his head, chuckling under his breath. When he looked back at Minhyuk, there’s pity in his eyes. “You’re going to have a hard time, kiddo.”

“Does that mean you’re not my soulmate?”

“Definitely not,” The boy said. He rolls up his own sleeve, showing him the words etched on his arm - a pleasant, generic, simple _Hey, can I ask what last week’s homework was?_

Minhyuk’s shoulders sagged, and the boy pated him on the head. “Don’t worry, squirt.” He said. “You’ll find your soulmate eventually. You’ll have plenty of chances, if you’re usually as loud as you were a few minutes.”

“I am,” Minhyuk said. He didn’t feel quite as much pride in it anymore. The disappointment feels a bit too heavy for that.

* * *

 

In his first year of high school, Minhyuk decided to shut up.

It’s not easy - Minhyuk is, by nature, a loud person. He loved to talk, he loved to get to know people, and he loved putting himself out into the world. But after a few too many false alarms with is soulmate tattoo...

Maybe, he thinks, just maybe, if he’s quiet most of the time, the next person to tell him to shut up will be someone special. Maybe it’ll be his soulmate this time, instead of someone who’s just annoyed with him.

His plan only lasted for a month before he was no longer able to keep it up. What could he say? He’s Lee Minhyuk, mood maker and sunshine. He isn’t himself if he’s not talking, and Jooheon, bless his heart, kept asking him if he was dying. So he started talking again, and people kept telling him to shut up.

And life went on.

* * *

 

By his first year of college, he’d figured out a few tricks.

It’s simple, see. A lot of people’s soulmate tattoos are fairly generic - that’s what happens when the tattoo is the first thing one’s soulmate says to you, of course.

So when strangers told him to shut the fuck up (or even just to shut up - it doesn’t hurt to try, right?) Minhyuk responded with the most generic responses he can think of.

“Hi! How are you? It’s nice to meet you. What’s your name?”

He always got a few odd looks like that - after all, it’s not exactly common to respond to being told to shut up by turning around and spouting generic greetings.

But, once or twice, the looks he got in return were startled and tentatively hopeful - the generic bullshit he spouted happened to match the generic bullshit on their arms, and Minhyuk would leave the encounter with a number, a date, and a small bubble of hope in his chest.

A bubble that would be popped, inevitably. A few dates in coffee shops, walking in the park, a movie or two, and then an apologetic text in the middle of the night saying “sorry, it just doesn’t quite feel right, I don’t think it’s you.”

Minhyuk tried not to be disappointed, tried to ignore the way the way his heart plunged down into his stomach and the little bit of hope he clung to shattered in his hands.

It wasn’t all bad, though. He met a new friend this way; a tall, lanky, handsome guy his age named Hyungwon. His wrist was tattooed with a simple “Hi! How are you?” - Minhyuk went on a few dates with him before Hyungwon sat him down and gave him the usual talk - “Sorry, I don’t think you’re my soulmate” - and Minhyuk had deflated once again before Hyungwon continued - “I’d like to stay friends, though, if you don’t mind.”

Minhyuk couldn’t help but to perk up at that. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Hyungwon said, grinning. “You’re pretty fun to hang out with. You wouldn’t make a bad soulmate, honestly, even though I’m pretty sure you’re not mine.”

“Pretty sure isn’t completely sure,” Minhyuk said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Hyungwon laughed, ruffling Minhyuk’s hair. “I’m completely sure, then. I’d still like to be your friend, though.”

And, well. Hyungwon may not be Minhyuk’s soulmate, but he wouldn’t say that making a new friend was entirely a bad thing.

* * *

 

When his second year of college rolls around, Minhyuk is sick of the false alarms.

It’s become a bit of a joke, now - his small group of friend were more than aware of his predicament, and most of the time he’s more than happy to joke along with them. Because it is funny, in a way - he’s Lee Minhyuk, the one that Jooheon had affectionately dubbed “the single most talkative person on the planet”. It was only fitting that the first words his soulmate would speak to him would be to tell him to shut up.

It was a bit draining, though, after a while. He felt for the people with a simple “hello” on their arms - the waiting game, the trial and error, trying to find the person whose tattoo mirrored yours, was a long and disappointing one.

Hyungwon had found his soulmate, finally - despite his tattoo being fairly generic, his impulse response to seeing his soulmate for the first time was to say, “Holy shit please don’t break me in half.”

His soulmate, a gentle man named Shin Hoseok who had the soul of a child and and the muscles of a bodybuilder, had immediately asked him out for coffee and the rest, as they say, was history.

Minhyuk was happy for his friend, he really was. But that didn’t stop him from his sad, lonely bro nights with Jooheon, eating ice cream, watching shitty romcoms, and lamenting at how lonely they were.

It was a bit easier for Jooheon, though - his tattoo had a name, so it was just a waiting game for him with little to none of the uncertainty facing Minhyuk.

Eventually, Minhyuk decided to start replying to people who told him to shut the fuck up with the most insane, off-the-wall shit he can think of. If anything, it’s all in good fun - seeing people’s confused faces when he told them to go eat a rotten cucumber, or screamed about a soup store, made it all the more satisfying and made the sting of knowing they’re not his soulmate hurt a little bit less.

He still wondered, every once in a while. When he’s lying awake at night, unable to sleep, there’s a piece of him that wondered if one, even one, of those people who told him to shut up was actually his soulmate, for real, and he missed out on it because he’s Lee Minhyuk and he’s loud and obnoxious and too bright for his own good.

* * *

 

It’s his third year of college, and Minhyuk has decided he’s going to die alone.

He’s not without his romantic prospects, of course - he’s begun attempting targeted assaults, finding people he thinks are cute and deliberately being obnoxious around them in an attempt to find out if they’re The One, but if he’s being honest it’s a halfhearted effort at best.

Every single attempt has ended in failure, of course, but that doesn’t really stop him. He’s already formulating his next plan - targeting the shorter guy with pink hair named Yoo Kihyun in his photography class he took on a whim. Not that Minhyuk’s holding out much hope. Kihyun’s photos are some of the most beautiful he’s ever seen, and Minhyuk may or may not be a tiny bit obsessed with them, but that doesn’t change the fact that Minhyuk’s definitely going to die alone and there’s no saving him and -

“You’re too dramatic.” Jooheon whined, before taking another massive bite of pizza. The four of them were studying together in their normal spot at the library - Minhyuk, Jooheon, Hyungwon, and Hoseok, with the latter two cuddling and being lovey and cute across the table.

“I’m not.” Minhyuk sighed. “I go out of my way to be the coolest, most outgoing person in the world, and then people have the _audacity_ to tell me to shut up without even bothering to do me the favor of being my soulmate. It’s ridiculous. A crime against nature. I’ll die alone and obnoxious.”

“You’re not obnoxious, Minhyuk!” Hoseok said encouragingly. He’s got Hyungwon’s head in his lap, petting his hair as Hyungwon reads a book. They’re disgustingly adorable, and had absolutely no right to say anything about Minhyuk’s inevitable future of loneliness.

“Alright, Hoseok, I know that you’re like, the nicest person on the planet, but we can all admit that Minhyuk is a little bit obnoxious.” Jooheon interjected.

“Hey now-”

“Seconded.” Hyungwon called out from his unfairly cozy position. Minhyuk pouted.

“You all are traitors. Traitors! And you all have no sympathy for my life, my _story,_ and my _loneliness_ , and how I’m going to die alone -”

“Minhyuk.” Jooheon interrupted.

“Yes?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Minhyuk gasped dramatically, placing a hand on his heart. “Jooheon! Could it be that you were my soulmate this whole time?”

Jooheon rolled his eyes and smacked him, grumbling. “Oh, my god, you’re _impossible._ ”

“Friends! Comrades!” Minhyuk stood up, gesturing to the friend group assembled before him. “The truth has finally been revealed! Jooheon has been my soulmate all along! The great mystery is solved!”

“Hey, Minhyuk?” Hyungwon said.

Minhyuk turned to him with a flourish. “Yes, my dear Hyungwon?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Minhyuk gasped even more dramatically, putting a hand to his forehead as if he’s about to faint. “The plot thickens! Could it be....that Hyungwon is my true soulmate instead? How could we possibly know the truth?”

“Those are hardly their first words to you, Minhyuk.” Hoseok piped up, amused. “Also, Hyungwon is my soulmate and you can’t have him.”

Minhyuk ignored him. “The drama! The web of lies! Who will win, and who will find true love-”

“Oi”

Minhyuk turned around.

Yoo Kihyun himself, the most recent (planned) target of Minhyuk’s antics, stood behind him, glaring. Minhyuk let a bright smile light up his face - what better time than now to make a new attempt, right?

(He’s not holding out hope, but it wouldn’t hurt)

Kihyun gave him a sour look. “Shut the fuck up. Some of us are trying to study here.”

Minhyuk gasped dramatically, just as Jooheon and the rest of the friend group groaned in unison.

To be honest, Minhyuk doubted getting Kihyun to tell him to shut up would be this easy, but he’s more than happy to take advantage of the situation. “Behold!” Minhyuk cried out, throwing his arm around Kihyun’s shoulder, “Yoo Kihyun is my one true soulmate! The truth has been unveiled! Or is it a three way fight for my love? Stay tuned to find out more-”

“What did you just say?”

Minhyuk’s next words died in his throat at the tone of Kihyun’s voice. He turned and gave the shorter man an odd look. “Behold, Yoo Kihyun is my one true soulmate?”

“Don’t take it too seriously,” Hyungwon piped up from behind him. “It’s a running joke. His soulmate tattoo says ‘shut the fuck up’, you see, so anytime someone says that to him we joke that it’s his soulmate.”

Kihyun visibly blanched, suddenly looking like he’d rather be anywhere in the world than here. “Ah. I see,” he said faintly. “I....should go. I need to go.” He turned and all but sprinted from the scene, leaving Minhyuk shocked and with the smallest (largest) bubble of hope blossoming in his chest.

He turned back to his friends - Jooheon looked lost, for the most part, but Hyungwon met his eyes and mouthed _go_ \- and Minhyuk was running after him.

* * *

He found Kihyun outside the library, pacing back and forth and running his hands through his hair. He looked stressed - about as stressed as Minhyuk was feeling, if he was being perfectly honest with himself.

Minhyuk definitely didn’t take a full minute standing awkwardly by the door psyching himself up to go to Kihyun. Definitely not.

(He definitely did).

Minhyuk wracked his brain - how many other people might have said that to Kihyun? “ _Behold, Yoo Kihyun is my real soulmate_ ” - he wasn’t _trying_ to make it unique, he just spoke without thinking. He was just being a shithead, if he’s being perfectly honest with himself.

But what if he’s misinterpreting the signs, what if Kihyun just ran off because Minhyuk is that annoying? What if it’s another stupid coincidence? What if he’s wrong again and he’s too annoying and Kihyun just told him to shut up because Minhyuk is obnoxious and doesn’t know how to stop running his mouth and -

“Are you going to just stand there, or are you going to actually talk to me?”

Minhyuk blinked, and Kihyun is there in front of him, glaring. “Oh.” Minhyuk said in a tiny voice. “Talk, I guess?”

Kihyun looked at him for a long moment, then huffed, a small smile tugging at his lips. “Come on, then.”

Kihyun grabbed Minhyuk’s hand and pulled, dragging him out of the library and across the campus lawn. Minhyuk didn’t really know where they were going and found that he didn’t really care - the bubble of hope is growing, now, faster and faster, and he’s both elated and terrified of the inevitable pop.

Kihyun stopped when they reached a building - the art building, Minhyuk realized belatedly, as Kihyun pulled him inside and sat him down in one of the abandoned classrooms.

Minhyuk, at a complete and total loss what to do, chose to grin up at him. “You come here often?”

“This is our _classroom_ , dipshit, we have photography together here,” Kihyun said, an edge of hysteria in his voice. “I brought you here because - because, I don’t know, you might be my _soulmate_ and I’m kind of panicking and I needed to  _think_ -”

“You think we’re soulmates?” Minhyuk interrupted. The bubble is growing, bigger and bigger.

“ _Your friends said your tattoo said ‘shut the fuck up’,_ were they _lying_ , because my fucking tattoo says the stupid shit you told me-”

“Can I see?” Minhyuk interrupts again, but he can’t help it. He needs to know, to know for sure. “Please?”

Kihyun let out a tiny, defeated, strangled sigh. He rolled up the sleeve of his shirt.

There it is, in messy black letters that made Minhyuk’s heart lurch. _Behold, Yoo Kihyun, my one true soulmate._

Minhyuk held Kihyun’s arm, tracing the words silently for a moment before rolling up his own sleeve to show his own arm. _Shut the fuck up._

“I always wondered how extra my soulmate would have to be to say something like this in our first meeting,” Kihyun said, a breathless laugh escaping with a whoosh. “I should have known it would be you, just based on how fucking loud you are in class.”

“I kept getting false alarms with mine,” Minhyuk confessed. A smile had broken out across his face, one he can’t quite get rid of, and the bubble is rising, rising, and he didn’t think he’d be able to take it much longer. “Too many people telling me to shut the fuck up. The first time was on a subway when a guy who looked like he could be my dad said it to me. I was twelve.”

Kihyun laughed, loud and startled, and Minhyuk felt the bubble _burst_ at the sound. He feels like he’s flying - because this is it, this is his soulmate standing right in front of him. He can feel it, feel it in his very bones.  

“Sounds about right,” Kihyun said, smiling at him with shining, joyous eyes, and it’s the most beautiful thing Minhyuk has ever seen in his life. “By the way, want to get coffee sometime?”

Minhyuk was smiling, smiling, and didn’t quite know how to stop.

(And he didn’t really want to).

“Absolutely.”

**Author's Note:**

> I definitely wrote this on a whim in a singular day - the idea hit me and I was writing down an outline to come back to later, then I was writing scenes out, then suddenly I had an entire fic, whoops.
> 
> If there are typos or tense inconsistencies, apologies, will fix those later.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! You can find my social media here:  
> Twitter: @betafish_bebe  
> Curious Cat: betamaz  
> Tumblr: minhyukielee


End file.
